Like a Harlequin heroine whisked around the world by her ruthless Greek tycoon, I’ve been globetrotting like crazy these past few months. It’s been a bit unreal. Mr. Wonderful travels 80% of the time for work and stocks up a heck of a lot of frequent flier points. Sometimes he brings me with him. I like to pretend I’m “working” on these trips too, researching and taking notes for future novels set in “sophisticated, glamorous, international locations.”

Though Mr. Wonderful did not accompany me on the Caribbean cruise I took two weeks ago, I still spent many hours lounging in the sun brainstorming and plotting. I now have four books stewing in my brain based on four best girlfriends who take a cruise together to celebrate being single, thirty and independent. The books overlap in time as each woman finds her true love on board the luxury love-boat. Someday you’ll get to read them. Once upon a time…

Three of my friends joined me on the cruise: Laura, Tracy and I met in high school, and Leah is Laura’s college roommate.

Miami the city that keeps the roof blazin

I only came for two days of playing. We stayed on Miami Beach Saturday and Sunday, before boarding the cruise ship on Monday. It was…cold (cue theme). Enjoyed the mile-long active pedestrian mall on Lincoln. Margaritas and Mojitos for Laura’s birthday (hip-hip-hurray!). Turns out the Cubans have left Calle Ocho, but that didn’t stop us from walking the strip (whistle!).

All aboard!

Carnival Destiny. My first time aboard a cruise ship. I expected the boat to be dripping in luxury (thanks Baby Bonanza!) and it turned out to be more plebeian in real life. There were no hero-models to be found, much to the disappointment of my single friends. We gorged ourselves on the delicious food and enjoying our singing/dancing waiter. Surprisingly, four women in a tiny stateroom with a single bathroom did just fine. I stole a few precious reading moments while waiting for my turn. I slept like a baby – swaddled in my feather mattress in the pitch dark, rocked to sleep on the tide – it was like being in the womb. At least as I imagine it.

Laura chats up the locals

Swashbuckling Pirate Romance

Tuesday, our first stop: Nassau, Bahamas. Nassau, once home to notorious pirates Anne Bonny, Mary Reed and Calico Jack Rackam, is no longer the rum-fueled den of iniquity it once was, but don’t let that fool you to what sharks still be hunting these here waters. Tour-operators, souvenir merchants and taxi drivers lurk in the brightly painted pastel shops, luring unsuspecting tourists to their doom. A pirate museum and history museum hide on the back roads for the more adventurous traveler. My intrepid friends followed me blindly as I marched through the narrow, traffic-filled streets in search of the historic heart of Nassau. We discovered the pink colonial Governor’s mansion ruling over the harbor from a hill and the early parliament buildings, also pink. Pink, it seems, might be a favorite pirate color. Who knew?

Our excursion for the day took us to a small private island off the coast where we strapped on small blow-up life vests and daintily inched our way into turquoise blue water that only a polar bear could love. Seriously. The guides wore wet suits. I envied them. Once the shock wore off, we enjoyed swimming with the friendly penned stingrays. They were quite used to humans and eagerly swam against our legs and feet in the expectation of being fed.

Afterwards we warmed ourselves on the sunny beach and watched a dutch pop star film a music video in spanish.

Part I: Miami and Nassau

Part II: Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk